I recently bought a new coat. I took off the
price tags but I left on the label on the outside of the sleeve
that said the name of the designer. The other day I was in a
Jewish book store, and the woman working there told me that halachically
one should take all of the labels off a garment before you wear
it. Can you explain what she was talking about?

Dear Dan,

Carrying an item in a halachic "public domain"
is prohibited on Shabbat. Of course, you're allowed to wear clothes
outside on Shabbat because you don't "carry" your clothes,
you "wear" them.

But what's considered "clothing?" Something
that's normally removed, like a price tag, is not considered part
of your clothing. So it's forbidden to "wear" a price
tag outside on Shabbat, because you're not really wearing it,
you're carrying it.

Regarding manufacturer labels, it depends. If it's
a tag which people remove (for example, a "Cheapo's Bargain
Basement" label) then it's like a price tag and must be removed
before Shabbat. But if it's a label that people wear - such as
designer labels intended to be worn as part of the clothing -
then you don't have to remove it before Shabbat. Since people
usually remove the label (even a designer label) from the sleeve
of a suit jacket, you should do so before Shabbat.